The Digestive System

• The ENTERIC (GI)

system
– Mouth to anus
– Long tube with different
structures and functions
– Accessory glands
• salivary glands
• pancreas
• liver
• gallbladder

1
 Objectives: Digestive System
• Understand the digestive system is a series of tubes with
different epithelia and cells = mouth to the anus
• Describe the 4 layers in the tubes (mucosa, submucosa,
muscularis externa, adventitia or serosa
• Describe the structure and functions of each organ:
mouth, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine,
and large intestine.
• Describe the structure and function of the accessory
organs (salivary, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder)
• Understand and describe the control mechanisms:
– nervous system (intrinsic and extrinsic) and
– hormonal – paracrine and endocrine mechanisms
• Describe the secretory cells in the tubes and accessory
glands
• Understand why motility (via muscle contraction) of the
tubes is important
• Explain where and how the processes of digestion,
absorption, and excretion occur
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 The Plan
• Introduction –
– 1. General concepts
• Follow food as it moves thru the digestive tract
and discuss the anatomy and physiology or each
area
– 2. Mouth thru esophagus
– 3. Stomach
– 4. Duodenum and accessory glands – liver, gall
bladder and pancreas
– 5. Small intestine and large intestine

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 Readings – Digestive 1
• McKinley, O’Loughlin, and Bidle, Anatomy and
Physiology An integrative Approach, p 1015-
1061.
• Overview of the Digestive System 1015-1019

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The Gastrointestinal Tract

For better or for worse, the gut are exquisitely designed to acquire
every calorie out of every meal
Physiological Processes of the
Digestive Tract - simplified

3.

1.

4.

2.
What does the digestive system do?
Think about it:
• First 2 functions you think of
• What happens when you first
smell fresh apple pie?
• What does your stomach do?
• How long is the intestine?
• Does your GI tract move; make
noise?
• Does your nervous system
control the GI tract?
• Why do you eat food?
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What happens when you first smell fresh
bread?
• The body gets ready for digestion:
• Salivary glands release
– Serous and mucous fluid
– Amylase – breaks down
carbohydrates
– Lipase – lipid digestion
• Stomach begins to churn
(muscles) and acid & enzymes are
released
• Pancreas and gall bladder activate
• These are controlled by the CNS –
the extrinsic nervous system.
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What happens when you first taste fresh
bread? (food in your mouth)
• Salivary glands release
– Serous and mucous fluid
– Digestion begins
– Amylase – breaks down
carbohydrates
– Lipase for lipid digestion
• Chewing (mastication) and
mixing of food with tongue
• Stomach muscles contract, acid
and enzymes released
• Pancreas and gall bladder
secrete
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What happens when you swallow the
chewed bread?
• Tongue helps move food
bolus to the oropharynx
(oro)pharynx (mouth)
• Skeletal muscles in the
esophagus pharynx move food to
esophagus
• Esophagus = a conduit to
stomach
– muscles contract to allow
peristalsis
– glands secrete to moisten
food

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What happens to the bread in the
stomach?
• Stomach functions:
– Storage of food
– Mixing via muscle contractions
– Release of H+ & Cl- and pH lowers
• kills bacteria
stomach • Degrades foods = chyme
– Cells release pepsinogen – a zymogen
– Pepsinogen converted to pepsin in low pH
– cleaves proteins
– Digestion continues via
• Acid and pepsin
• Amylase, lipase

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What happens to bread (chyme) in the
small intestine
• Acidic Fluids flow into the small
intestine:
– digestive enzymes and bicarbonate
(HCO3-) added from Pancreas
– Liver makes bile for lipid absorption
– Water added and reabsorbed
• Digestion accelerates and pH
neutralized to pH ~ 7
• Absorption of building blocks
through enterocytes to the liver
small via the portal blood system
intestine
• Undigested material remains

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What happens to chyme in the large
intestine?

• Dehydration of
indigestible material
• Compaction of
indigestible material
• Elimination of
undigested material
large
intestine

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Accessory glands for the digestive system –
(see small intestine)
• Salivary glands
– Moistening/lubricating fluid with enzymes
– Amylase helps break down starch; lipase - lipids
• Pancreas
– Release of digestive enzymes
– Release of bicarbonate (HCO3- ) solution
– Endocrine functions = insulin & glucagon
• Liver
– Makes bile -- helps dissolve fats
– Receives and stores building blocks (aa, CHO,
etc.) from intestine
– Makes blood proteins
– Detoxifies drugs
• Gallbladder
– Stores and concentrates bile (from liver) 14
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Digestive
Summary
System Accessory Digestive Organs Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract

(Figure 26.1)
Teeth Oral cavity
Tongue: mechanical processing, moistening,
Pharynx: muscular propulsion of
and mixing with salivary secretions
Salivary glands: secretion of materials into the esophagus
lubricating fluids with enzymes
to breakdown carbohydrates
and lipids

Esophagus: conduit to
the stomach (15”)

Liver: synthesis of bile, storage of

nutrients, many other functions
Gallbladder: Storage, concentration
and secretion of bile Stomach: chemical breakdown of
materials by acidic and enzymatic
processing and mechanical mixing via
Pancreas: exocrine portion muscular contractions ( 12”)
secrete buffers and digestive
enzymes and endocrine portion Small intestine: enzymatic
secretes hormones digestion and absorption of
nutrients (20’)
Large intestine: dehydration
and compaction of materials
in preparation for elimination
(3’)

Anus
 Fig 24.2
Concepts and characteristics

Peritoneal cavity
• Retroperitoneal
– Posterior to the parietal
peritoneum
– Embedded in connective
tissue
• duodenum
• pancreas
• parts of the lg intestine
• Intraperitoneal (with in)
– Bordered by a single cell -
mesothelium
Omentum (from ‘epipleein’ Gk.) meaning to float on; Mesentery is a double layer of peritoneum
16
 Mesentery

- Supports 20’ of small intestine – hold in place yet allows movement

- Allows blood vessels and nervous system to enter and leave 17
 vi ew Glands -
Re
• Exocrine glands – release
of products through duct
systems

• Endocrine glands – release

of products into the
circulation (blood vessels) to
circulate to target cells
– enteroendocrine cells secrete
peptides
– GI is the largest endocrine
gland –

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 Digestion, Absorption & Elimination

• Digestion – break down of foodstuffs to basic

building blocks (aa, sugars, fats, nucleotides)
• Absorption – passage of building blocks from
intestine via portal system to the liver
• Elimination – release of waste products and
recovery of fluids

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